Title

Author

Graduation Date

Availability

Submission Type

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Philosophy

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Frederick Evans

Committee Member

Silvia Benso

Committee Member

Michael Harrington

Abstract

In this dissertation, I argue that Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), most famously considered a philosopher of history, is above all a philosopher of narration. I unfold Vico’s narrative response to and rejection of traditional philosophical discourse; through relating the story of himself and the story of mankind, Vico demonstrates that storytelling gives birth to the human self and world. Furthermore, I emphasize the ontological import of narrative, often overlooked, in his two major works, The Autobiography of Giambattista Vico and The New Science. Finally, I conclude by showing the relevance of Vico’s pedagogical call to cultivate the child’s narrative imagination in childhood education today. It is my contention that Vico’s narrative art can revive the lost art of storytelling and make possible our own recovery of narratable selves.